SED trying to find new format for Common Core meetings

The state Education Department is working on developing a new format for Commissioner John King’s town hall-style discussions of the Common Core standards — one it believes will be far less likely to descend into the sort of shoutfest that prevailed at Thursday’s session in Poughkeepsie.

“We are working to finalize venues where constructive dialogue is possible so that together with parents and educators we can discuss the
Common Core and hear concerns regarding its implementation,” said SED spokesman Tom Dunn.

King’s subsequent decision to scrap the rest of the schedule and blame the melee on “special interests” has been a public relations nightmare for the department. King would have appeared Wednesday night at Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park.

Sources with knowledge of King’s plans say the department is reaching out to PBS stations statewide in hopes of orchestrating new meetings that include local media figures as moderators — folks perhaps better suited than King himself to maintain civility on the hot-button issue.

A smaller meeting on the Common Core involving King and Republican state Sen. Lee Zeldin reportedly went well on Wednesday morning.